A Godfathers legacy
by tomanylemons
Summary: Naruto always knew he was different. It started with the stares and the whispers. It grew when a silver haired giant offered him the chance to learn seals. He will find answers he never dreamed of learning, and a path he wouldn't trade for anything.
1. Prologue

Prologue.

The third let out a haggard sigh as he looked at the wide puppy-like eyes of the boy in front of him. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I already said I couldn't help you." The orange clad boy didn't even bat an eye before launching into to same lines of argument he had been running from the start.

"But, old man all the other kids know super secret awesome family moves." Not for the first time, the third felt each and every one of his years.

He new what this was really about even if Naruto didn't say it out right. All the other children at his academy had families. Families to welcome them home to support them and in most cases to teach them. It was natural for a boy of his standing to want a connection to someone, even for something as simple as a technique passed on to him from an old man who reeked of cherry smoke. "Naruto; I'm sorry but it simply wouldn't be appropriate for me to do that. But don't worry the Academy will teach you everything you need to know to be a great ninja."

The line never worked. Nor did he expect it to ever start to, but it stalled the issue. Eventually Naruto would be too tired and frustrated to keep arguing. Then he would go home and sulk. The next day he would get to the academy or skip it to pull a prank in order to "prove how awesome he was."

"But how am I supposed to keep up with the other kids when I don't have any awesome family moves." Naruto wined.

"That's not true. Your family does have awesome techniques." The third blinked in surprise.

It wasn't that he hadn't known Jiraiya was there. It wasn't even that what he was saying was something he didn't want Naruto to know, thou admittedly it was something he wanted to reveal gently when the boy was more mature. It was that in all the six years of the boys life, in all the times the boy had barged in on one of his meetings with the silver haired, self-proclaimed super pervert, not once had the man so much as let the boy see his face. He would lurk outside the window or in a corner under a concealment jutsu. Silent till the boy left. Then go on with there discussion as if nothing had happened.

"Bu-but how can I have family moves if there's no one to teach them to me, and who are you anyway?" the child demanded. Instead of trying to regain control of the situation the old man simply leaned back in his chair, content to let Jiraiya handle the boy for once.

"I'm glad you asked young man. I am the great toad sage one of the legendary Sannin; master of the fabled art of sealing, expert of summoning and wooer of lades from ever station in life's stage. Behold the gallant **Jiraiya**! Now you see young man; the benefit of being from a clan that specializes in sealing jutsu is this. I'm sure all of your family jutsu are written down somewhere, in fact I'm sure if the old man hear put his mind to it he could dig up a whole library of family techniques." The man boasted.

The third resisted the urge to strangle his student as the boy let into him with renewed vigor. "Could you really Gramps?" Sarutobi tried to determine the best way to salvage the situation, however "I can't" was simpler to maintain than "when your older."

"Perhaps but it will be difficult. Also it may take some time before you are ready to learn any of those types of abilities. Perhaps in a few years." The man smiled internally, his diversionary ploy well played. He could see the boy rallying for a second round of pleading. More resolved then ever now that he new there was something he could learn about his unknown family.

"Nonsense I'm positive there is a whole locker downstairs just brimming with his family scrolls." Jiraiya scoffed. Sarutobi blinked owlishly in surprise. Staling Naruto with half-truths and evasion was bound to be difficult. Staling the boy when he knew there was a stockpile in this very tower would be impossible. 'I will not kill my spymaster. I will not kill my spymaster. I will not kill my spy master.' The boy's eyes lit up. "Really? Can we go see? Can we? Can we? Can we?" the blond boy all but demanded.

"I'm afraid not kid; you see sealing is a very dangerous art. So unless you can prove you are capable of handling the responsibility I'm afraid you will just have to wait till your older." The boy's excitement was nearly palpable.

"No problem I can handle whatever it is." Naruto boasted with a grin.

Jiraiya crossed his arms confidently. "Don't be so sure, there are a few conditions. The first being that you cant tell the other kids about anything you learn about sealing." Jiraiya cut the boys out raged shout short. "If you don't like the conditions we can wait till your older." The boy complaint died in his throat.

"Also if you violate one of my terms all the scrolls will be reclaimed till your thirty." He waited for Naruto's objection. But it never came. "Now seals are an art that needs to be learned from the ground up, so no skipping to the big stuff. Okay?" The boy boded his head eagerly. "Now in that spirit! Before you can see that nice stockpile you need to show at least a basic proficiency in seals. So I've arranged a little test." He unrolled a scroll and with a small poof of smoke revealed a dozen or so books. "Now these books represent the most basic of sealing texts. Once you can complete everything in them you might be able to complete this test."

The young blond starred at the daunting pile of books before him. "If that's the study material what's the test like?" The man let a grin split his face. "The test is a simple security seal. Once you can crack it the contents are yours for as long as you hold up your end of the terms. Keep quiet and keep studying, no short cuts." The third added another three books on the pile, having decided to hop on the flaming, run away train rather then killing his student immediately. "These are on principals of chakra and chakra control. They will make the other books simpler."

"And since I'm such an amazingly generous man I'll sweeten the pot. If you can complete the test before your next birthday I'll pay for your own privete instructor to help train you on weekends." A determined look settled on the boys face as he considered the four months before his birthday and the six thousand pages of material before him. "Well then no time to waist, best get to work boy." Jiraiya said with a grin.

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"This is far from the way I wanted to handle this. It will lead him to more questions than answers." Jiraiya reclined lazily in a chair. "I wasn't the one to keep things from him. He deserves to know." The aged Kage settled his student with his best disappointed teacher look. "Nor have you ever shown an interest in his life before. You cant just pop up and derail all of my work to keep him safe and happy."

"If ignorance was bliss I wouldn't need to drink so much. And given his present academy performance I doubt a bit of motivation will hurt him." Sarutobi was finding it hard to stay mad at the man. To spite the explosive tag he had applied to the situation it may have solved a lot of problems. Instead of feigning ignorance he could pass the responsibility of teaching Naruto of his heritage to Jiraiya. As a bonus Naruto learning seals would only help him as life went on. While the art sealing was difficult and required an extraordinary amount of prep time unless you were a master of the art, it also included a thousand and one obscure trump cards.

"Do you really think he can get through enough of those books to break the seals in four months." Jiraiya smiled letting a giggle escape his mouth. "Hell no. Those books don't even have a chapter between themes on how to break a security seal. But it will make him work harder. Then when he comes up short he will keep working hard to prove he can do it." The third frowned "If the books don't tell him how to complete your test how do you expect him to do it."

"I don't. He'll just have to wait until I give him more books." Jiraiya said "I think you will find him most persistent." Jiraiya stood to leave "That's the advantage of only being in the village six days out of the year." Sarutobi simply sat quietly as his student jumped out of the window. While he was less than happy with his student revealing so much to Naruto he had left himself open to be a scapegoat to Naruto's curiosity, which would simplify his own life. Still the situation was more precarious. One slip from a six-year-old boy was all it would take for village secrets old and new to come tumbling to light, everything from his status as the jinchuuriki to the identity of his father.

'Jiraiya I hope you know what your doing.' The wizened warrior sighed.

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Umino Iruka looked down at the test in front of him with confusion. Naruto had never been his best student. Truthfully, Naruto had never been anything closely resembling a good student. With nine of the ten questions either wrong or to short to be accepted, one question caught the scared teacher's attention. 'List the basic principal of sealing jutsu.' most answers amounted to "A ink drawing combined with chakra." while that was correct enough for academy students it was far from complete answer. Though in truth it summarized most shinobi's understanding of the art.

While most shinobi used things like exploding tags and storage scrolls; even fewer actually new how they worked. Most had just enough rudimentary knowledge of the art to use the most basic seals that someone else would prepare for them. He himself had gone a step further. He had made it a point to have a basic grasp of all aspects of shinobi life when he became an academy instructor. To that end he had studied seals. He had never gotten far but he knew enough to prepare any of the basic seals himself, instead of just being able to use them. A point he prided himself on due to the difficulty he had found in the task.

Despite all of that he found his head swimming as he reread Naruto's answer. He wanted to dismiss it as a ramble, but he couldn't shake how familiar it sounded, So he pulled out a book on advanced sealing, and as he reviewed the introduction he new why. To spite the obvious difference in grammatical ability the concepts conveyed were the same, and he found himself equally incapable of warping his head around either explanation. Rather than further his headache he simply marked it as being worth extra credit and moved on.

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Sarutobi absently thumbed through Jiraiya latest report while carefully hiding his smirk. It had been some months since the man had wandered through towns and he had yet to bother checking on his godson's progress. "Before you skip town you should stop by the mission office to pay for the first month of Naruto's trainer. The tall man blinked at him. "No way." the third let his smile split his face "Yes." He felt gleeful vindication at Jiraiya shocked face. "While none of the books covered seal breaking they do explain adding to or expanding seals and they warn of things that may cause a seal to go wrong."

"Shit," Jiraiya paled. "Its really quite impressive. While his academy scores leave much to be desired both academically and practically, his tutor should at least help with the practical side. And given how he has latched on to seals as a link to his heritage he will at least have one field of academic knowledge." Jiraiya let out a sigh as he accepted the fate of his pocket book. C class missions were relatively cheap but six years of them tended to add up. "So how far has he progressed?"

"He's only memorized a half dozen seals, but he is quickly grasping the building blocks of the art. Something about learning the basics first." Jiraiya simply hummed in thought he knew that, in truth, there were four levels of seal users. Most simply knew how to activate prepared seals. The next tier was those who knew how to prepare designed seals, many of these spent there time memorizing as many seals as possible in hopes of growing better, but never grasped the basics to the point where they could understand the bigger picture a work. The true experts were those who knew the basics principals and building blocks to the point where they could create there own seals. Most of them rarely bothered to remember more than a dozen seals. If a specific effect was needed they could simply create a seal on the spot to complete the task. These seals rarely veered to a great degree from conventional seals. But to them writing a seal was like writing a sentience. While more sophisticated seals like the eight trigram seal or the dead demon seal were more specific, similar to a poem, basic and even intermediate seals could be written a hundred ways and still be effective.

Then there were the true masters. Seals were in essence constructions of chakra. Typical people would use ink or blood to form the blueprint for the seal. Then allow it to guide the formation of the chakra construct. Masters could make these chakra constructions on the fly and let the seal form around them. Men like Danzo could fancy themselves masters because of there ability to add existing seals together into such over complicated mess that no one else could actually understand what the fuck the seal did. But that ability was tripe compared to someone like himself or Orochimaru who could simply hold out there hand gather chakra and make a bypass seal that would make the whole mess inert.

"Its not as though he's some latent seal master, he's studying hard but its going to be years until he can do more than basic seals without a reference book. But once he can it will be because he understands the seals he makes rather than because he's memorized them, and given his talent with proper instruction he will doubtlessly one day count at a master in the art. But the more important ability he's shown is creativity. If he can combine that with even an expert level of seal manipulation will make him formidable."

"Speaking of Naruto's future, who did I oh so generously hire as his instructor." Jiraiya asked. "A special jonin named Yamashiro Aoba" the taller man simply hummed trusting the Kage's judgment. "Given that its at my expense I'm surprised you didn't choose a full join like that Gai." The third simply smiled " I thought about it but in the end I decided Naruto doesn't need to be any louder. Besides Aoba is capable enough in taijutsu to train Naruto, and he is a ninjutsu specialist so that he will be able to help Naruto learn proper chakra control." Jiraiya simply nodded his acceptance as he leapt from the window.

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Naruto dusted himself off as he prepared to make another run at the tree in front of him. "Hey, Aoba sensei. Why do you always wear your head band crooked?" The man adopted an exaggeratedly thoughtful pose. "Well Naruto it's very simple." He adjusted the headband so that it sat straight and placed his hands on his hips "Cool." He then returned the headband to its crooked position. "Super cool." Naruto simply gave a deadpan look at the man. 'I hope I'm not this quirky and weird when I'm an adult.' As he returned to his training he reflected on the shinobi he had met in his life. The old man was just that. An old man, he treated him well and was always warm and welcoming and seemed to the boy to be the closest thing he could relate to a family member. He had kept things from him. But the only reason he knew some of those things now was because he had promised to keep those things from others.

In truth, he realized there was probably more he wasn't being told. But given the extra training and the ass load of family scrolls he now possessed he thought it smarter to simply wait than press his luck. 'Better to count my blessings.' Then there was the man named Jiraiya. He had said a lot of things about himself in his introduction. But he still didn't have a good grasp on the older man's abilities; out of curiosity he had taken a look, read skimmed, a few history texts. But still what exactly a toad sage could do he had no idea. Additionally the first thing he had learned about sealing was that master was a relative term. And from what Aoba had told him all summoning was based on time space manipulation and required a given level of expertise, so what constituted an expert summoner was also unclear.

But still the man carried himself with a confidence and sense of purpose the boy envied. He had proclaimed his ability's but never mentioned a rank, a family name or indeed any kind of comparison to others. He simply was. And from what Naruto had gleamed he was powerful, having been the student of the third Hokage and teacher of the forth. While every one in the village respected the Hokage he found three times the lore on Jiraiya's accomplishments than those of any Kage. The fourth had been respected as the greatest ninja the village had ever produced. But his accomplishments were made in the span of six or seven years. Similarly the majority of old mans deeds were completed in an office sure he had joined in desperate or great battles. But from the age of sixteen on he spent ninety five percent of his day glued to his office chair.

From the age of sixteen the Sannin had earned their renown, and none more than Jiraiya. While one teammate had spent the days between the second and third Great War delving into forbidden jutsu and the other had taken healing jutsu to an unprecedented new level. Jiraiya had filled to time with more travels and adventures. Additionally while the other two had burned out in there late thirty's and left the village, one with a price and criminal charges on his head, Jiraiya had stayed faithful and seemingly still active in his late fortys. More than once Naruto had dreamed of the respect he could earn if he were to be Hokage's . But thinking of Jiraiya he saw so many more possibilities. He could easily see where decades of paperwork could become mind numbing. But becoming a man like Jiraiya. Respected famous and with a lifetime of endless adventures ahead of him. Now that was something to aspire to.

Then there were his instructors. He new Aoba wasn't a full jonin but even an academy kid like him could see he seemed head and shoulders above Iruka or any instructor he had seen at the academy. He had learned more about chakra control and taijutsu and weapon use in four weekends with the man than he had all year at the academy. It wasn't that he was suddenly light-years ahead of the other students. More that he was finally keeping up with there learning curve in the practical aspects.

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It was odd. Looking at the small package in his hands he wasn't sure what to feel. The old man usually gave him a small birthday present, but that he was all he was used to receiving. To spite that hear was a small package with a note proclaiming it a late birthday present. He opened it with an exited tear finally settling on happiness for the extra gift. What he found was yet another book. He was quickly growing tired of reading. He always pressed on when the scroll or book had to do with sealing because the art served as a link to the family he had never known. But reading a book for fun was not an idea he understood. He nearly threw the book aside until he saw the author's name. "The tale of the gutsy ninja by Jiraiya... well I guess if the big guy wrote it can't be all bad."

The book wasn't long, not when compare to what he was used to. But it was worth the time to read. The large silver hared man had so far seemed a mystery to him. He had only talked to him once, and then read about him from there. But the book made him feel like he had gotten at least a glimpse at the man's actual mindset. The most important theme seemed to be 'never give up' the next day would find Naruto still thinking on the book and every time he did he would push a little harder and a little further.

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Naruto slowly pushed himself back and forth on the swing. He watched as other kids his age greeted their parents happily before seating out for home. "Why do you even wait; no ones ever going to come for you." Not for the first time Naruto wondered how other kids could be crueler than any adult he had ever met. "Just cuss." The pail haired girl snorted. "Even if you had parents they'd never want to be seen with a brat like you." Naruto baled his fists he wanted to punch the green-eyed girl but she had a circle of friends with her who would never hesitate to tell and parents near by watching. "Hey gaki!" He blinked once before he registered the owner of the booming voice.

The circle of girls seemed confused by the appearance of the large man. He then pulled a Popsicle from behind his back and gave one half to the young boy "Thanks." It wasn't just seeing the other kids proven wrong. It was something he always hoped for but never really expected someone greeting him at the academy. For once just to feel like all the other kids going home with there parents. "Come on gaki, what are godfathers for." He wasn't sure what the man meant by godfather maybe he would ask later all he knew was for once he got to walk home from the academy with someone. And as a bonus he was promising ramen on the way. It was the first time, and though rare it wouldn't be the last.

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Naruto let out a contented sigh. He knew he should be at the academy. But hell he only turned ten once. Besides it wasn't as though the lecture would be interesting. He had a cup of ramen and his favorite book in hand. It had become something of a tradition for him to start re-reading the old present on his birthday. Iruka would yell at him tomorrow and on Saturday Aoba sensei would make him do laps for it, but some crimes were worth the time, and given the revelations he had come across earlier in the week he felt he deserved a day for himself.

It had started with curiosity. It wasn't as if he was oblivious enough to miss the massive seal covering his belly. Ever since he had started studying seals he hoped that if he could figure out the pieces of the seal he would be able to figure out its purpose. After four years a revaluation had hit him. It was a seal with two chakras. He had never heard of two separate chakra's going into one seal. The whole thing seemed to be a massive suppression and containment seal. Though what would need a containment seal the size of a demolition grade explosive note he had had no idea. He had eventually decided to try taping into the seal to get a beater idea of the construction of it. What had happened had shaken him not that he would never admit it.

They seemed to flow by like dreams. Fights he had never heard of people he had never seen. It seemed so jumbled and out of order it was hard to make sense of but one line in particular stood out as odd to him. 'Ultimately we were brought here to become vessel of the Kyuubi but before the beast can be housed we must fill it with love.' He had never heard of anything let alone anyone who could house a demon. Let alone something like the Kyuubi. He could feel an idea growing in the back of his mind while he seemed to dream, and the final scene had made it impossible to deny. The sight of the fourth, and a red haired woman standing over him a massive claw piercing threw their chest. There advice passed in a blur but the final word rang clear as a bell. "SEAL!"

He had delved through every scrap of information he had available on sealing. He learned that a strong enough seal could be used intentionally or otherwise to carry memory's embedded in its chakra. The thought of him acting like a storage scroll for a demon was more than a little disconcerting. He felt a pit settle in his stomach when the third arrived. He wanted it to be just another birthday with the old man, a night of a present and a cup cake with a candle. But instead he asked a question that made the old man freeze. "Hey Gramps, what's a Jinchuuriki."

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The Hokage relished the taste of the smoke he inhaled. Every ninja had a critical choice to make in there life. To embrace one or more guilty pleasure or loose what little sanity the job allowed you to keep. A classic comparison was Hatake Kakashi and Might Gai. While Kakashi's life was a jaw drooping list of tragic tales ranging from seeing his father kill himself to loosing his whole genin team. Death and lost comrades followed the man from there into his present ANBU days like rabid fan girls. Yet to spite it all he could in fact hold a civilized conversation for at least a half hour without mentioning anything related to shinobi life. Gai was mentally incapable of talking for more than five minuets without launching into a rant about his youthful training. If reading porn in public kept a man from that it was worth the outrage in the Hokage's mind, if only for the sake of public hearing.

He dreaded the scope of the vice that could help Naruto keep sane. Though admittedly so far the boy seemed to be unbelievably well adjusted. After the young ninja's seemingly innocent bombshell of a question he realized the cat was out and all he could do was reassure the boy. Find out the way he found out and send ANBU to handle the hangings. He had been skeptical when he discovered the way he had, in fact, come arose the information. But it was possible in theory, and if any seal master could maintain himself or his memories as a chakra construct in a seal it was Minato.

In all it wasn't the worst way things could have happened. It was serenely better than some random ninja blurting it out in rage or spite. In all he knew he had given the young boy more than one reason to distrust him. But the boy seemed to still want to trust in him despite everything. Ultimately he had done his best to reassure the boy but remained realistic. The child's world view had been irreparably changed. All he could do now was pray for the best... he hated praying.

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As usual for Naruto his gift from Jiraiya came late, and as usual it was a book. In this case a bingo book. He eagerly paged thrugh the information. It had everything from bounty amounts to specialists. But two dog-eared pages quickly caught his eye. One was about the fourth Mizukage; A jinchuuriki famous for his ability to fully control his tailed beast. Another named Kirabi was famous for the same thing. But rather than being Raikage he was something of a trump card or champion for his village. As he read about the two men he realized how little of his actual goal had really changed. He was an Uzumaki after all. Since the founding of the village his clan had provided the Jinchuuriki of the village. For that service and to commemorate the fallen clans lost village every Konoha uniform had his clan symbol emblazoned on it. It was a lineage anyone could be proud of. In all likelihood the role of sacrifice would also fall on his child or grandchild as well. Being a champion of the village was something he aspired to before, and now it was something he found he had been born to. So he had lost some of his ignorance, it hardly mattered anymore.

It didn't make the villager's glares or whispers any worse it actually was easier this year when he knew what the cause was. It didn't change where he could shop, it didn't change the restaurants that refused him service. His goal of being a great ninja hadn't diminished. His goal to earn the villagers respect hadn't disappeared. It didn't make his study of sealing any less of a connection to his family. Hell knowing both of his parents had mastered the art actually made it a more viable connection, and given the two entry's in his new bingo book proved that his options hadn't changed. A Jinchuuriki could be a Kage, or simply a great shinobi for his village. He was sure of it.


	2. Paths begin

Paths begin

Naruto took his time strapping his sandals on. He had planed to follow his usual routine: Up at seven, out by seven thirty, and to school before eight. This morning, however, had found him awake at five. After an hour of trying to go back to sleep he caved and began his morning early. Twenty minuets later; despite his best efforts to take his time he was ready. He knew it was natural to be both exited and nervous. His path of a ninja officially started today. He officially had less then four hours left in the academy. He had niggling doubts in the back of his mind, no mater how may time Aoba told him it was a simple ninjutsu test he couldn't help but feel there would be more to it.

He let out a sigh as he looked at the clock, the numbers; six twenty taunting him for what seemed like an eternity. He did his best to walk slowly to the academy it figured that the day he couldn't wait to finish was taking its sweet time. When he arrived he took a nice seat in the very back of the room. He had once asked Shikamaru why he always sat there the boy had responded with a statistical run down of the probability of any given seat in the room being called on. Out of respect for the boys efforts he never took Shikamaru's preferred seat, with its impressive three tenths of a percent chance to be called on.

He pulled out a book and began to leaf through it to pass the time. Slowly the students trickled in. Shikamaru took his customary seat, and promptly put his head down to go to sleep. Naruto idly thought the boy would be happiest in the barrier core. Long hours of sitting and waiting for a breach that to his knowledge had never actually happened. It was a scenario that would probably never come to pass however. The lowest rank allowed in the barrier corps was a special jonin, and that was only if the specialty was chakra sensing, or some other tracking and detection skill. The barrier around the village was its last and best line of security. As it stood anything that crossed it would be confronted by a squadron of three heavy assault ninja and one sensor, with ten or more ANBU squadrons quickly reinforcing them. To spite the boys obvious intellect he could barely see him putting forth the effort to make chunnin, anything more would be to troublesome.

It was interesting for him to try and picture where his classmates would be in a few years. 'Sakura is pretty and smart. But her actual practical ability seems abysmal. All in all I think she would do well with a desk job. Sasuke seems to want to do everything alone. That might work if he wants to be a hunter ninja or something similar.' He knew most teams were assembled for balance. At least one of his teammates would probably have a strong academic standing, to counter his own abysmal grades. It was a strange paradox he new his grades on written tests were shamefully poor. He just couldn't make himself care. He had ambitions, but being able to recite what day the first Hokage signed the clan right act would hardly help him on the way.

Naruto cut his musing short when Iruka and Mizuki finally walked in. "All right settle down you lot. Today some of you will begin on your path of a ninja it will be a long and hard road, but remember the things you learned here and I have absolute faith you will all do well. Now lets begin, the test is to produce two bunshin. When I call you name comes to the front of the room to complete your test." Naruto let out a groan 'That's what I've been getting worked up for? I thought at least the test would be to do all three jutsu...' One by one his classmates walked up and completed the test, when his name was finally called he walked up to the front. One hand seal, no smoke and a satisfied smirk later and Iruka passed him his headband wordlessly. He impatiently returned to his desk. A few minuets later the testing was over and Iruka was giving them a congratulation speech. "And don't forget your first ninja assignment is to meet here in one week for your team assignments. You are dismissed."

Not for the first time Naruto grumbled at his former classmates habit of taking one step out the door and stooping to talk. After a lingering look at the window he squashed his temptation to use the more sensible exit. Pushing threw the crowed that failed to grasp the concept of leaving the door open he reflected on Jiraiya's wisdom.

"_Hey Ero-sennin why do you always come in and out windows? What's wrong with the door?" the large man smiled at the boy "Because door's are for traps." The young blonde blinked in confusion while idly stirring his ramen. "But couldn't someone trap a window too?" A light chuckle escaped the older man "Of coarse they could but with a window you can see what's on the other side before going through." _

As with many things the man said he took the impute to heart. Eventually the Hokage had sat him down to help him understand the importance of (bribe him to adhere to) basic social etiquette and manners. Going in and out of public or government windows had been one of the half dozen concessions' he had made in exchange for a book on explosive tags. It was a deal he never really regretted. While he had simple designs, the new book included everything from time delays to motion sensing to full-scale demolition seals.

Naruto's mind settled back to the present as his destination came into view. He happily bounced into the doors of the armory. While most genin wore custom attire out of a sense of individuality he was ecstatic to get sets of the standard uniform. The uniforms were a symbol of unity; of camaraderie to wear one was to be a part of the whole. He eagerly signed the paperwork to have the uniforms cost deducted from his future mission pay. Naruto also took the chance to stock up on weapons at wholesale prices. He let himself whistle as he walked home stacks of uniforms and boxes of equipment in the boy's arms.

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Naruto resisted the urge to blink at the cameras flash. He lightly smirked at the resulting picture. The wizened warrior had assumed his request for a copy of his father's Hokage registration photo innocent. In truth he had wanted the picture so he could emulate the expression. Just because he was forbidden from revealing his parentage didn't mean he couldn't try and emulate his old man. He saw the Hokage frown at the picture. "Its good you're getting the registration finished promptly Naruto but wouldn't you prefer a more dramatic picture?"

"No thanks old man, it's ramen time!" The boy happily turned and walked to the door with his hands on his head. Suddenly the door before him slammed open. He watched as a boy in green and black wearing a long scarf ran through the door, kunai raised, and charged at his leader. "Die, old man!" A flick of Naruto's wrist and a shuriken went flying and pined the scarf to the ground. An instant later the boy let out a choking noise as his feet went out from under him with his scarf holding his neck tight. The boy sluggishly untied his scarf as the older boy walked toward him. "I should thrash you for threatening Hokage-sama." He heard rapid footsteps climbing the stairs before a man wearing sunglasses burst through the door. "Honorable grandson, are you alright!" The brat in front of Naruto smirked confidently. "Still feel like thrashing me?"

Konohamaru heard the sound before he felt the thump on his head. "Like I give a shit who your grandfather is!" The young boys vision was still swimming as the blond figure walked out the door. The combination of hitting from being close lined by his scarf and the follow up blow to the head made this one of the most painful experiences in his life. 'That guy, he's different…'

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Konohamaru let out a cry as pain raced through his knuckle. After his most recent failed attempt to defeat his grand father and escape his shadow he had decided a new approach was needed. To that end the boy had hunted down the blond shinobi who had so effortlessly, and fearlessly, ended his assault before it began. His initial demand for training had been met with a response worthy of the bold genin who he had sworn to have as a mentor. "_Fuck off." _As the boy was less than amiable about training him directly he had decided to observe him to determine what made the boy so awesome. After two hours of watching the boy read, the boy had calmly stood up and walked to a hobby store. When he exited the store he had a small pouch of plastic blobs, usually used to decorate fish tanks. Rather than indulging a pet, Naruto had taken to flicking the blobs at Konohamaru every time he caught site of him.

While his observations were being broken up his stealth was getting better. He had watched Ebisu-sensei go by him four times today while looking for him. Apparently his fence drawings and rock colored boxes weren't as revolutionary amazing cover as he had thought. "Argh! Why wont you just train me all ready?" The young shinobi closed his book. "Why do you want me to train you?" Konohamaru felt a rush of excitement; it was the first time his new idle had bothered to say more than two words to him. "'Cause you're super awesome and if you teach me a super cool move I can beat the old man and become Hokage."

"Why do you want to be Hokage?" The young boys face settled in determination. "Everyone looks up to the old man because he's Hokage, now when they look at me all they see is his honored grandson, not me. So if I'm Hokage instead then people will respect me and not just my name!" The blonde smirked. "Dumb-ass, that's not the way it works. Do you know why the fourth was great?" Konohamaru blinked owlishly at the response. "Because he knew how to use the Hiraishin."

"Wrong, the Fourth was an expert of genjutsu and chakra sensing, a master of seals and taijutsu _and_ had flawless chakra control. His skill set is what made the Hiraishin famous, Not the other way around. Becoming Hokage is the same thing. The third is the Hokage because he's respected. There is no short cut to earning a reputation like his, not even the mantel of Hokage." Naruto watched as the brat who had spent two days stalking him tried to digest what he had said. "Now if you want to get skill you need to train, you have a full time trainer who wants to teach and help you, so why have you spent two days hiding from him and following me?"

Konohamaru sat quietly lacking a good response. "So this is the point where you go find your teacher and start applying yourself, its no small thing to exceed the god of shinobi." The scarf wearing preteen blinked at the statement. 'Dose that mean he thinks I can?' a smile split his face "I will and you'll see ill be worth your teachings one day." Naruto blinked as the small boy ran off 'He still wants me to teach him... dammit!"

Ebisu would never forget that day Konohamaru had eagerly walked up to him and simply said. "Lets go train Ebisu-sensei" He had been pleased to put it mildly. He had happily stood in the clearing as he ran Konohamaru through his exercises. "Don't worry honorable grandson I'm your short cut to Hokage." The boy didn't even pause in his push-ups. "No there is no short cut if I want to be great like gramps and Naruto I need to work hard." He hadn't known what to say he was thrilled to see the boy's work ethic but shocked to realize the source.

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Naruto hummed happily as he went about his work. He had been eager to begin after retrieving the supplies from the armory. He had staled on the basis that arming kunai with explosive notes was not advised with the honorable moron near by. 'Though he's not that different from how I was at a young age. Maybe I can give him a chance.' He could never repay Jiraiya for the influence the man had had on his life. He hadn't just taught him or offered training. He had challenged him. Pushed him. And driven him further than he could ever come on his own. 'Maybe that's what the older do, inspire those who come after them.'

Two days later Naruto went about his work dully. It was hard to stay exited about making explosive notes after making over one hundred in one sitting alone. Not that they were for him. He had rung up a large tab at the armory, and the best way to pay it down for him was to craft seals for the armory. Sealing, as a whole was a dying art, there were still masters and experts but there numbers were shrinking. The village was also lacking a dedicated 'seal corps' most of the seals available at the armory were made by retired shinobi seeking some extra income. Jiraiya had once told him that being descended of a clan famous for there sealing ability's, he was the most suited to preserve the art through his clans descendants.

'One more on a long list of goals.' He grumbled. It had taken him time to wrap his head around his standing in the village. His mother's status as the previous container of the Kyuubi was a piece of information officially only known by the Hokage and his advisers. But as the third war drug on the village was forced to use all of their trump cards more and more often, and every time his mother wielded her power a few more shinobi learned the truth. By the end it was as much an open secret as his own status as a jinchuuriki. So when the Kyuubi simply appeared in the midst of the village many simply assumed that it had escape while she gave birth. They then assumed that the reinstated third's explanation of an attacker was simply an attempt to save face. Some believed the truth but to others his birth caused the rebirth of the Kyuubi. 'My fault or not, I will atone for the Kyuubi attack, and I will restore my family name to the place of honor it deserves.'

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Sakura settled into her seat next to Sasuke, Ino talking away on the other side of him. She felt confident that soon she would have her team assignment with Sasuke-kun and away from Ino. 'True love conquers all!' Rather than worry about Ino's last minuet grab for attention she idly looked around the room. She paused briefly when she caught sight of Naruto. Most of there class was dressed exactly as they had left the academy last week. Naruto sat in a standardized uniform shirt and pants. He also seemed to have exchanged the headband cloth for a long stretch leaving the ends to dangle behind him.

The boy was an enigma to her. He always seemed to read yet his test scores were horrible. Her friends and mother always told her he was an unwanted orphan. But she still remembered the day Ino had cornered him by the swings. It seemed like she had expected at first. Naruto looked upset but wouldn't do a thing. Then he had appeared. Sakura's first thought on seeing the man was that he was big. Not just big huge. He was broader than any black smith she had seen and taller than anyone she had heard of. After he had taken the boy away she was left with the nagging suspicion she had seen him before. The next day she paged thru the school library's copy of the shinobi registration when she saw him. It seemed to be an old picture from when the man had retired but there he was, Jiraiya of the legendary sannin.

The thought of someone who seemed so unwanted being the godson of a legend had baffled her. She had never voiced her knowledge. But it always came to mind when she saw him. Her thought came to an end as Iruka walked in the door. She folded her hands in her lap politely as he brought the room to order and announced he would be beginning assignments. Her thoughts began to drift until she heard one of the names she cared about. "Team seven will be Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto. Jonin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

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Lunch seemed far to long ago to Naruto. He had been sitting in the same damnable seat listening to the same damned voice going through the same damned cycle of Sasuke-kun blah-blah blah blah-blah-blah date. blah blah blah. For what seemed, to him, like hours. 'Oh wait it has been hours.' He felt his heart lift as the door slid open. "Team seven?" The man seed tall lean and in possession of the most gravity defying silver hair Naruto had ever seen. "Sensei you LATE!" The man winced at the volume before letting out a thoughtful noise.

"Are you drunk?" Kakashi's eye narrowed at the insolent blonde "Lets see. My first impression is… I don't like you three. Lets meet on the roof for introductions." The man disappeared in a cloud of smoke as the three stood slowly to follow. Assuming that since his sense had little adherence to social conduct his own could lax a little Naruto simply slid open the window and jumped. The silver haired teacher cocked an eyebrow but said nothing. "You never did answer my question." Kakashi tilted his head slightly. "I'm sorry did you say something?" Naruto felt his eyebrow start to twitch but cut his retort short as his teammates arrived. "Well then since were all here let's start with introductions."

"Sensei what should we say." Kakashi gave her a deadpan look. "Things like your likes, your dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future." Sakura blinked "Why don't you go first and show us how its done sensei." Naruto felt his eye brow twitch 'Smartest girl in the class, right...' Their sensei leaned back casually "My name is Hatake Kakashi my likes are... umm… my dislikes are... hmm and I have no desire to tell you my dreams for the future. But I have lots of hobbies.. Well then lets start with blonde." Naruto shifted before beginning "My name is Uzumaki Naruto my likes are...'seals and training.' instant cups of ramen. My dislikes are 'ignorance' the three minutes it takes to cook ramen noodles. My hobbies are 'good question.' reading I guess, and my dream for the future is to 'restore my family name.' become a great ninja like Jiraiya of the Sannin."

'Well he turned out interesting.' Kakashi let his eye settle on the next student in line. "Your turn pinky." The pink haired girl sat back to speak. "My name is Haruno Sakura, I like.." she blushed and turned to eye Sasuke. "I hate Ino-pig! My hobbies are." She looked back to the raven-haired boy. "and my dreams for the future are..." A last look at her obsession ending her introduction. 'An obsessed stalker. Teamed with the boy she's stalking. Fan fiddly damn tastic.' Kakashi let his eye settle on the last boy in his potential squad. "Your up broody." The raven-haired boy settled him with a glare. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like anything. I dislike many things. I have no hobbies, I have no dream for the future just an ambition. To resurrect my clan and kill a certain man."

'As I expected.' Kakashi's only visible response was a nod. "Well then we meet tomorrow at five am for your survival test." The pink haired girl was quick to object "But sensei we already finished our test." The silver haired Cyclops chuckled "Out of the thirty students of your graduating class only nine will continue as genin. The rest will be flunked back to the academy. The initial graduation test is just meant to weed out the hopeless cases." All of the students were startled at this "But that's not fair!" Kakashi let his eye settle on the protesting girl. "Fair has very little to do with being a shinobi. Now five am, training ground twenty-eight. Be on time and don't bother eating breakfast before hand. You'll just throw it back up."

From his hiding place above them Kakashi observed his students depart. 'The only one to keep something to himself was Naruto. Not surprising considering Jiraiya's place in his life, the man who wrote the book on hiding underneath the underneath. Sasuke, for all his acclaimed genius is to direct and single minded to pass. Lastly the Sakura girl is too afraid of being wrong, especially in front of her obsession, to think for herself. Naruto has a small chance to grasp the meaning of the test but there is no way the other two will go along with it.' Content that there was no threat of being saddled with the brats Kakashi made his way home.

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Naruto happily slurped his morning ramen. Oblivious to the death glare his pink haired teammate had leveled at him. "Kakashi sensei said not to eat." Naruto smiled happily. "Actually he said not to eat before coming here, and not having a viable food source available for a survival test is kind of silly." Sakura stiffened at his retort. "IDIOT! He didn't tell us to bring food, he said don't eat." The blond boy happily slurped another mouth full of ramen before responding. "A true shinobi looks underneath the underneath." Sakura just huffed and settled for ignoring the boy. Six hours later she was grudgingly admitting to herself that the boy might have had a point.

"Well you all look chipper." Sakura rushed to her feet rage flushing exhaustion from her system. "YOUR LATE WHERE WERE YOU?" Kakashi adopted a thoughtful pose. "Well you see when I woke up I realized my alarm was broken so I had to go to the store and wait until it opened at nine." as he finished he eye smiled as though everything made sense. "Um, sensei that's not an alarm clock its a baking timer." Naruto said in a deadpan voice. "Well then lets get started shall we." He pulled a pair of bells from his equipment pouch. "I have heard two bells. Your objective is to retrieve one bell from me before the alarm goes off in one hour. The ones who get a bell get one of these lunches the ones that don't will be tied to one of these stumps and watch as I eat lunch in front of you and afterword you will be sent strait back to the academy." Sakura looked as though her stomach had jumped out of her toes. "But sensei there are only two bells." Kakashi chuckled lightly "Correct, so one of you is definitely flunking."

"Oh and one last thing. Come at me with intent to kill or you will most definitely fail." He waited a minute to see if one of the preteens would seize the initiative. He was not disappointed. First came two smoke bombs the wave of eight shuriken from his flank and finally a blond boy brandishing a kunai emerged from the smoke screen. A second later the boys neck was under Kakashi's foot while the jonin lazily held the boys kunai. "Ah ah ah I didn't say go yet. But you used intent to kill so I think maybe .. I'm starting to like you." He dropped the boys weapon and let him up. "Now then. Go"

In a whoosh all three scattered to the bushes. Naruto bent to the ground extending to fingers to the dirt. He carefully molded his chakra and let the jutsu do its work. 'So I need to fight him near the north egg if I want to avoid hitting the others with my trump card.' Ending the simple detection jutsu he settled on a plan.

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Kakashi idly turned the page of his book. 'Naruto wasn't bad.' Kakashi had crushed the boy with reactions and skills hardened by over two decades of shinobi life. 'Still I doubt I could read my book while fighting him' For Kakashi there was no higher praise he could lay on a genin. He casually lifted a single finger. Letting it hook into the ring of a kunai that had been racing for his head. Tossing it to the side before the explosive note could detonate. "Lesson one: taijutsu."

A quick shunshin brought the man in range of the boy who brandished another kunai at him stabbing quickly for his mid chest. Kakashi side steeped easily and warped his hand around Naruto's wrist to disarm the boy he the let out a stout kick that sent the boy flying. In mid air the shorter boy began to form seals finishing as he landed on his feet "**lions mane!" **Kakashi dashed to the side as a dozen needles of blonde hair raced at him. 'Definitely Jiraiya's teachings.' Naruto dashed further into the woods. After a few rounds of cat and mouse Kakashi watched the boy trip. Standing over the boy Kakashi felt slightly disappointed at the boys lack of a long-term plan. The boy rose to his feet seemingly in a panic as he swung a branch at the jonin's head.

As Kakashi caught the branch casually the boy abandoned it and dashed back to the trees. Letting out a sigh of disappointment Kakashi let go of the branch intending to return to the other students. Panic filed him when he found the branch still attached to his hand. Turning the branch over quickly he saw the scrawl of seal work on the back of the branch. 'A binding seal, used to force a chakra systems to stick to an object.' He quickly slammed the branch agents a tree to shatter it. Then let a kawarimi move him away before the explosive seal on the lower half of the branch could detonate.

He took a minute from a hidden position to break the seal holding his hand to the remnants of the branch 'Preparing seals isn't a quick process, he lead me hear on purpose. then fell to bring my guard down.' The sound of something flying through the air caught Kakashi's attention. He used shunshin to move away before looking to see where the sound emanated from. At first it struck him as a dumb idea, why would anyone tie ten kunai together with wire. It made them cumbersome less precise and slower. The center of the string struck the tree he had hidden behind and the string of weapons began to wrap around the tree. 'What a stupid... oh.'

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Sasuke sighed in frustration. He had wanted to ambush the jonin but Naruto had lead him on a goose chase in the other direction. He had hoped the fight would end quickly so he could dispatch the jonin and be done with his test. He finally he resolved to follow the two and set a new ambush when he heard it a chain of explosions so close together he almost thought it was one long blast. Then another and another 'So that's the power of a jonin.'

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Kakashi dashed to the side narrowly avoiding another chain of explosive armed kunai. He had never been a fan of shock and awe tactics. He found them wasteful, his preference being efficiency and precision as opposed to trying to overwhelm an opponent. But as he ducked a fourth string of fiery destruction he was forced to admit it could be effective. As the fifth chain came sailing at him he dashed to the remaining woods hoping that the foliage would allow him sufficient cover to catch his breath. 'Not likely his detection abilities are insane for a genin.' Kakashi's eye widened as his body seized up on landing. Quickly caching sight of the seal work on one of the trees he had passed. 'A barrier trap.'

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Naruto smiled in victory throwing a single kunai following close behind it. Most ninja barriers were made for two purposed to block entry or detect entry. But with the right set of seals you could trigger a trap effect on whatever crossed a set barrier. In this case paralysis. His excitement grew as the kunai cut the bells from the jonin's waist. He drew more shrunken knowing the jonin would break the paralysis in seconds. But all he needed to do was scoop one of the bells before the man could retrieve them. His eyes winded as he saw lengths of wire descend before him he winced as the wire raped around him and pulled him tight to a tree. His stomach drooped as a second Kakashi stepped out from behind the tree he was pined to. "There are hundreds of different clone techniques, never assume you have trapped an opponent until you see them die."

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Sasuke smiled to him as the older ninja casually walked back from his fight with Naruto. 'There's my opening.' Lettering a volley of weapons fly he waited in anticipation. When the all impacted perfectly he smirked to himself. Then a log stood where his sensei had been. 'kawarimi' He dashed from his compromised position. Heading for a patch of field he had prepared for this possibility. Upon arriving he found his prospective sensei waiting for him "Lesson two ninjutsu…."

Sakura woke with a start. After seeing Sasuke fire a volley at the jonin she had set off for his position quickly so she could help her crush. What she had found was Sasuke looking half dead with a dozen weapons sticking out of him. She felt slightly embarrassed at the sight had made her faint. Sakura quickly looked around for the boy but could see no one. She ran on desperate to find him, and then she broke into a clearing when she found the raven-haired boy. "NOW SASUKE-KUNS A HEAD!" Said ninja gave a flat look as the girl fainted. 'Worthless…'

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Naruto dashed thru the woods knowing he was short on time. But he hoped to make one last desperate fight for the bells. As he came into the clearing where they had started he met the jonin's eye readying a batch of weapons as he raced foreword. His hope was crushed as the buzzer rang before he could loose his weapons. After a few minuets of waiting the other preteens stumbled into the clearing. "Well then I have good news. None of you should worry about going back to the academy." All the genin gave Kakashi surprised looks at the statement "In fact the three of you should just quit as ninjas all together."

Sasuke dashed foreword in rage only to be easily pined to the ground by the far senior ninja. "Not one of you ever bothered to try and divine the true meaning of this test." They all looked at him with wide eyes "True meaning?" Kakashi let out a sigh at the girls question "Teamwork." He let the word hang in the air for a minuet before continuing. "If the three of you had worked together you could have gotten the bells. Why do you think you were put into teams in the first place?" The pink haired girl stammered "But theirs only two bells one of us would still have failed."

"Of coarse the test was meant to turn you on one another otherwise what would it prove. Ill give you another example Naruto, kill Sakura or Sasuke dies." Naruto glared at him in a way that made him pause. He had seen that look but never thought he would have it leveled at him. "Fuck you, I wont choose one teammate over another." Kakashi put his weapon away and let Sasuke go "There will come a time in your life where you will need to chose who you save. If you do nothing both will die. Look at this stone it commemorates the heroes of this village. Tell me what do they all have in common?"

"They were all skilled shinobi?" The pink haired girl ventured. "No, they're all dead. Every name on this stone is the name of someone who died in service to the village. My best friends name is carved here." Kakashi let a hand reverently come to rest on the stone. "Tell me, what one of you would die for your home or for the one next to you. Is there even one in your whole generation brave enough to do that?"

Sakura blinked as rope wrapped around her body binding her tight to a stump. "Since Sakura never so much as attempted to fight me she gets tied to the stump and goes without lunch. After lunch I will give the three of you one last chance. In the mean time Sasuke and Naruto can eat but no feeding Sakura or you will fail instantly." In a puff of smoke the man was gone. Naruto simply pushed his box lunch over to Sakura.

"I already ate, you'll need this more than me if were going to win." Sakura blinked at him. "Thank you but with my hands tied I can't eat. Sasuke-kun could you maybe, help?" The ravine haired boy grit his teeth 'Naruto's right she needs to eat if she's going to help. But damn it I don't want her to take this as a 'Sign of my love.'' Reluctantly the boy shoved a bit of rice in the girl's mouth. A howling whirlwind drew the three genin's attention to the center of the field. "YOU THREE... Pass."

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author notes: thanks to Sage of Asgard for the beta reading.


End file.
